1978 Ford F-150 Ranger XLT revive project

[Jarvisx51]

SO, after a whiskey or two, I went off and bought this pile of truck off some guy in a trailer park. For the low, low price of not quite free but probably still too much. I'm usually a nissan guy, but I'm a sucker for old green pickups with 4 wheel drive and dual fuel tanks and piss all for safety equipment. Ok fine. I'll fess up. I saw it and it looked like one of those rescue animal commercials from the 90's my heart melted and i needed to save it before someone tried to feed it more meth.

The Good: Body is pretty straight. Mice didnt eat it. glove box lamp works. Seat isn't even torn. Interior is pretty solid considering the meth pipe where the radio should be. Everything seems to be where it should be, except the radiator but I'll get to that. Factory original paint almost everywhere!

The Bad: Keys barely work. heaven forbid you have to open the hood in a hurry, the factory hood release key cylinder is terrible. Or worn out. Cant tell. Both gas tanks are locked up tighter than fort knox and I dont have either key. Ignition cylinder? present, probably took meth; key cylinder found inside engine air filter. 4 wheels, only one has enough rubber left to be recognizably a tire. Also wheels to mobile home and tires to something else. Oh yeah, and dump bees. So many dump bees.

The Ugly: the front axle while seemingly present, doesnt have any of the axle-y bits poking out the ends. nor spindles, nor hubs. Tail gate is completely smashed in. going to pull it off and put it in the back of the wood shed. Really sucks too, not even rusty. Apparently Meth head #1 sold it to meth head #2 whose friend meth head #3 had a truck and they shoved it around the trailer park on skate boards until finally i bought it from meth head #4.

The stupid: Turns out that some hill billy like me decided that it would ride home on the trailer better if I put the cinderblocks, that i won in a game of rock paper scissors from meth head #1, back under the truck. I thought this would be a great idea, since the trailer was a rental and not punching a hole in the deck with what was left of the front axle. much to my suprise I opened up the chain binder locker to find that my 4 binders was actually 2. Thanks rental company. so with some kind of F***ery i managed to keep the thing from falling off long enough to get home. Which took a while because trailer sway is a thing if you don't drag a pile of garbage up onto the trailer far enough while a growing crowd of malcontents eyeballs the tool box on your work truck. So I got home at 4AM. Rental trailer with the WONDERFUL tilt deck was due back at the rental shop at 6AM. So here I am, exhausted, behind schedule, and about to lose my damn mind. And I still have to get it off the trailer. So jack up the front with my Hazard Fraught (TM) jack and start yanking on the come along from the ass end. That went pretty well until the jack fell out through a hole in the deck someone had thrown deck matting over. Usually this only happens on wood trailers, mind. but a torch cut hole in the middle of a near brand new tilt deck trailer was not on my list of expectations. SO one end of the jack goes down the hole, truck falls down, ass end of the jack goes up, and violently uninstalls the radiator. Which sucks because im pretty sure that one was copper cored.

The happy ending: Trailer goes back to the rental company, I get my deposit back, they politely brush off the hole in the deck like some kind of gnome running around with any oxy torch is normal. I go home and sit in the cab of my new project and sip whiskey until i go to bed.

PS: someone carved "panty dropper" into the home made bumper because apparently women love dump bees.

 

[Blmpkn]

Did they share any meth with you?

 

[dvdswan]

Welcome to the site. Nice find.

 

[Ranger850]

You must be RICH!

 

[Jarvisx51]

Sadly, I'm the type that turns down perfectly good meth. Get your kids into trucks and bikes and they'll never have money for drugs.

Thank you, I had been helping my mom get her dream truck when i found this gem in a weed patch.

If you aren't filthy you aren't rich!

 

[bobbywalter]

Cheech left his truck in the weed patch....

 

[pjtoledo]

congratulations on a good find. I'm in the rust belt where gems like yours disappeared into oblivion many years ago.

PICS ! we want more pics.

 

[Jarvisx51]

Been busy getting the title hunt underway. Pictures of this thing attached. if you haven't titled something with a lost title, or the seller never sent it, here's the basic run down.

1. Establish vehicle idenity. I'm waiting on a sheriffs deputy to drive out here and fill out some paperwork. (VIN Inspection) If the deputy cant establish a VIN then a representative from the DMV will have to come out for their inspection. IF the DMV inspector cannot identify the VIN or in the VIN has been tampered with, the vehicle will be investigated and if criminal wrong doing cannot be found, the inspector MAY elect to issue a unique VIN number.

2. Establish ownership of the vehicle. With the VIN inspection paperwork in hand, go down to the DMV and request a title record search of your VIN number. Around here that's $7.00 plus tax plus $3.00 service fee if you dont have cash. They'll give you a report pretty much instantly.

2. Part 1 1/2. Check to see if the previous owner is dead. Get a death certificate and skip to step 4.

2. Part 2. At this time if you bought a hot item the owner will be contacted by the sheriff and you could lose it. Make sure you let them know that you'll be charging $100 per day starting at once for storage, feel free to forgive it if they genuinely want their stuff back. I have only ever kept enough to cover the little bit I put into these no-title gambles. Usually folks are happy to sign it over to you if they can come check for any personals that might still be in it. $100 worth of grease in your palm can help this along if they still have the original title. I've seen some folks break down and cry when they see how bad of shape their poor truck is in and will gladly sign over the title for a promise you'll get it put back together and do what restoration you can. Some folks will accuse you of being a thief. Dont take that personally. Let the sheriff handle it. but remember to charge storage.

2. Part 3. Write a letter to the title holder at the last address they had. Most folks move every 7 years or less so dont hope to hear back. Best case, you never hear back. Have your public notary (free at my local credit union) write a statement that the photo copy of the letter is the same as the letter you actually send. Send the letter certified mail WITH RECEIPT and DELIVERY CONFIRMATION SIGNITURE. Your DMV will guide you on exactly what needs to be in your letter. I include the VIN, that I purchased it without a title in good faith, and ask for a return letter stating that they have no interest in the vehicle in question, for example "If you sold the vehicle in question, no action is required on your part". Include a time frame also, for example "If no response is recieved in 30 calendar days I will pursue legal ownership of the vehicle in question" I also include a statement that if they would like to claim their property they will be charged for storage at $100 per day from the date that they recieved the letter. You will know when that was because you will get a stub from the post office in the mail with the recipient's signature. More than likely you won't ever hear back.

3. Wait. No news is good news. Here, It's a 30 day wait, legal minimum from the day that they received the letter.

4. Take your receipts from the post office, copy of the letter, VIN inspection, public notary statement/s and anything else made of paper that has to do with you and that no-title vehicle down to the DMV and ask for them to issue a title. Better have your SSN, Birthcertificate, and 6 months worth of bank statements and utility bills along with your Driver's License and passport just to be safe. This is something very unusual to do so they're going to squint at everything really hard and there will not be any chance to slip through the cracks. If you try something stupid, you better expect a state contracted tow truck will be racing you home to nab your scrap heap before you can pull the engine or anything of value out of it. Do not attempt to grease any palms here.

5. Wait around some more. A title will show up in the mail. HOWEVER, if any criminal investigations conclude that the truck was stolen or wrongfully sold by any party that wasn't the owner/estate manager in the next 3 years you could be asked by the sheriff to surrender possession back to the rightful owner. Be sure to take lots of pictures and keep any receipts for parts/labor that you put into it for these 3 years (3 years here, may vary by state) because nothing sucks like having to give up a fully built crate engine because the sheriff and the full weight of the law asked.

6. Congratulations! You dutifully waited for your new project truck to mature into your personal property! Feel free to dump all the time, effort, and money you want into it. You've probably already done the whole blood sweat and tears thing just to get this far, time to enjoy it!

 

[Jarvisx51]

well good news is that the engine is free and even tried to light off. bad news is that the new starter failing to engage the flywheel. I'm thinking that the gear mesh is too tight, but I'm not finding any way to adjust the mesh, only ways to play with the depth of engagement. Any ideas for an actual fix before i start shoving random shims under the starter flange to try and give it a bit of room?

 

[bobbywalter]

Are you sure you have the correct starter?